Page 88 of Iron Hearts and Dragon Magic

Naia tooka breath as deep as she could without calling attention to her, and tried to calm down. River had asked her to trust him. He probably had a plan and this was part of it.

King Spring sat behind a table, and River approached it. “Father, dearest. Enjoying cowering in your little hole?”

“You’re not my son.”

Naia had once heard those words, which turned out to be true, and yet still hurt. In this case, though, the similarity between father and son was too great for anyone to deny what they were.

The king added, “And you’re still exiled.”

“How then am I here?” River sneered. “Have you thought of that?”

King Spring laughed. “You want to know why I listened to your summons? To see you suffer.” He raised a hand and glanced at a balcony located on the side of the room.

Oh, no. Six of those horrible hooded fae, the mindmelders, were there. They could try to make River kill Naia or even something worse. River looked calm, though, and kept approaching his father.

Every muscle in her body wanted to run, to escape, but she knew it would be pointless. River, River, did he even know what he was doing? It didn’t feel like it.

She felt a hand touching her back, over the fabric of the dress. “Stay close.” It was Anelise, likely predicting an ugly turn of events. Naia’s heart was thumping in her chest, and her hands were cold.

River glanced at the nooks where some archers stood, seeming unbothered. Naia heard arrows being nocked. She kept her eyes on the archers she could see, planning to dodge if they tried to hit her or River. Perhaps she could rip the large copper door and use it as a shield, but that would escalate things quickly, and she didn’t want to be the one to make the first move. Not to mention that they would be surrounded regardless.

The archers had their arrows pointed straight across, not down towards them, which was strange. Even stranger was when the arrows were loosened straight ahead, right on the mindmelders. The six of them were hit at the same time. Naia looked away, dreading the sight of blood. There was no screaming. Either they couldn’t yell, or they had been killed fast. Murmurs rose in the room.

King Spring shuddered. “What is this? Guards! Kill him!”

River turned sideways, so that he also addressed the other people in the room. “No. I don’t want to shed any more blood from our loyal guards.”

A fae ran towards River, sword in hand. Naia was about to try to control his sword, when an arrow hit him, and he fell. Had River spoken to the archers and arranged this? Two more guards ran towards him, but then they stopped, stabbed themselves in the arm, and threw their swords far away.

“Kill him, kill him,” the king yelled, his eyes wide, his voice desperate.

Anelise was no longer near Naia, but walking towards the dais.

River saw his sister, and said, “Stop.” She did as he asked.

Oh, no. River was using his mindmelding, controlling a few key guards in the room. For someone who claimed he hated this magic, he seemed quite proficient at it. Naia hadn’t expected any of this, hadn’t expected to see him attack his own people.

The king got up and was about to turn, probably to run away, but he also stopped. Trembling and sweating, he said, “Son, why don’t you stop this?” His voice was calm, fatherly even. “I always hoped you could be my favorite.”

“Really?” River asked. “Am I in line for the throne?”

“We can discuss it.” The king was trying to sound benevolent, but his voice was shaky. “If you stop. Stop it, son.”

A horrible feeling came to Naia. River had asked her to trust him, but it was getting harder and harder to believe that this was even him.

“No,” River said. He turned to everyone else in the room. “In this castle, in our magical cell, my own father tried to make me kill her.” He pointed at Naia, but there was no warmth in his eyes. “He tried to make me rip out her heart—afterI told him she was my chosen companion. The Ancient law is on my side.”

Naia exhaled. If he was mentioning the law, he was definitely going to try to make a deal. It didn’t change the fact he had just killed seven fae and hurt two more. He’d killed his own people, after being horrified at what Ironhold had done. Perhaps there was an explanation, perhaps things weren’t as they seemed, and yet, it all felt wrong.

Then, fast like a cat, River jumped over the table and stood right across from his father. Naia felt something horrible was about to happen. She wanted to scream his name but it got caught in her throat.

The next seconds were like a horrible nightmare. Naia blinked, wanted to look away, and at the same time she kept looking because she was expecting that false image to disappear. It couldn’t be true.

18

A Night for Dancing

Naia had to be imagining things, she had to, but that was not something that would come from her mind.

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